Promises to reduce taxes “once we’ve gripped inflation” – saying it is a matter of when not if
Pledges to cut basic rate of income tax by 1p in April 2024 and a further 3p by the end of the next Parliament
Also pledges to scrap 5% VAT rate on household energy for one year if the price cap on bills rises above £3,000 for the typical household
Says public sector pay deals should be decided by independent pay review bodies
As chancellor raised National Insurance by 1.25p in the pound to pay for health and social care but also raised the earnings level at which it starts to be paid to £12,570
Also announced plan to increase corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April 2023
Promises to maintain defence spending and says we should view current minimum level of spending 2% of GDP “as a floor, not a ceiling”
So, he’ll continue them - the article includes his historical “achievements” - next:
Cost of Living:
Says getting control of inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - is the most pressing issue
Promises to focus on employment by making sure people have the skills they need for better paid jobs
Says the long-term solution to heating bills is improving insulation in people’s homes and getting people the support to pay for that
Pledges to scrap 5% VAT rate on household energy for one year if the price cap on bills rises above £3,000 for the typical household
As chancellor announced an “Energy Profits Levy” – a windfall tax for energy firms - to pay for support
This included a £650 payment to households on benefits, a £300 payment for pensioners who can get winter fuel allowance, and a £150 Disability Cost of Living payment
All households were also given a £400 grant for energy bills in addition to £150 council tax rebate previously announced
Has criticised the way the NI Protocol - part of the UK’s post-Brexit deal with the EU - is operating as posing enormous challenges to “the stability of the situation in the nation”
Committed to reforming all EU laws and bureaucracy that are still in place, by the time of the next general election
Would scrap regulations on financial services that he says have been inherited from the EU to trigger growth in the sector similar to that seen in the 1980s
Would replace existing data protection rules (GDPR) to help UK technology firms innovate and public services share data to prevent crime
Promises to accelerate NHS targets to cut waiting lists, eliminating one-year waiting times by September 2024 and getting overall numbers falling by next year
Wants to introduce a temporary system of £10 fines for people who miss a GP or hospital appointment
Wants to offer more diagnostic services - such as MRI and CT scans - in repurposed empty High Street shops
Would speed up the approval process for clinical trials by creating a single approval service for UK trials
Says he believes in the NHS and that he took a difficult political decision to come up with a new way to fund the service - ie National Insurance increase
Promises promises…Sunak and Truss both sat back while promises were broken and lies told , I don’t give credence to any of the statements they make while trying to further their self interests. It would be a good thing if all the voting Tory members wrote ‘neither’ when voting.
I just received an email from my energy supplier saying that they will introduce this as a monthly reduction on my DD from October. I thought somehow that it was an actual payment? But then again, I suppose if they did that, not everyone would spend it on their bills, would they…?
The £400 was never meant to be a separate payment - it was introduced as a government-funded discount off your energy bill at a rate of £66/£67 per month for 6 months from October 2022.